Welcome to Waypoints!
Waypoints is nested within Wayfare and is Wayfare’s home for pop culture coverage, seeking wisdom out of the best books, films, music, drama, and beyond. Waypoints strives to model deep, charitable engagement with popular culture, believing that there are truths to be found and embraced in works of pop culture, interpreted by the light of spiritual and religious truths. Indeed, we affirm that viewing culture with an eye single to the glory of God may help us understand new dimensions of the abundant life Christ envisions for us.
Waypoints believes that truth should be sought after and embraced, regardless of its source, and hopes to draw on the wisdom from and concerns of diverse religious and spiritual traditions to interpret and understand pop culture. We hope to gather some of these insights and share the light that they provide.
While Waypoints is committed to an ecumenical, spiritually eclectic approach to pop culture, we also affirm a special interest in the art produced by, for, and about Mormons. We believe that Mormons have great art of their own and hope to bring our collective attention to this body of great art and artists, offering insights and perhaps new eyes to appreciate our own artistic canon.
We believe that part of the purpose of life is to have joy and hope that Waypoints pieces can offer some of that joy to our readers. This commitment to joy will guide our editing process, crafting pieces that reflect a sense of play and insight that remind us that culture and art can be taken seriously without robbing them of the joy and delight that they bring us.
Pieces will typically be 800-1500 words and have a clear, specific thematic focus. While these pieces will often focus on a single work, they may draw on additional works to enrich the analysis—particularly when the connections are unexpected. Pieces should help readers seek after the true, the good, and the beautiful, modeling a generous, clear-eyed reading of the selected work. Pieces should prioritize analysis of the work rather than review-like evaluation. Consider describing what the work made you feel and what those feelings may reveal about you, the artist, or society as a whole.
While Waypoints will prioritize current works of pop culture, along with works of Mormon art from any time period, we will also consider pieces that engage with past works of pop culture that are demonstrated to have particular value or insight for our readers.
We are seeking 1-2 volunteers to join the Waypoints team: one to do some simple image creation and design and one to administer the online publishing process.
